Assessment of In vitro antioxidant, antibacterial and immune activation potentials of aqueous and ethanol extracts of Phyllanthus niruri

Herbal-derived medications are an important resource in eliminating serious diseases in developing countries. About 60–85% of the world’s inhabitants depend on traditional medicine for the treatment of common diseases. Many Malaysian plants have been investigated for their beneficial use as antioxidants or source of antioxidants using currently available techniques. The antioxidant capacity and total phenolic content of selected Malaysian underutilized fruits have been evaluated, and methanolic extracts of seven Malaysian medicinal plants have been screened for antioxidant and nitric oxide inhibitory activities by Saha et al. In addition, Habsah et al.  screened the dichloromethane and methanol extracts of 13 Zingiberaceae species from the Alpinia, Costus and Zingiber genera for antimicrobial and antioxidant activities. Phyllanthus niruri is a well-known plant in Malaysian traditional medicine locally known as dukung anak and has been reported to exhibit lipid-lowering activity, antidiabetic, antihyperglycemic and analgesic effects. Recently it has attracted the attention of researchers because of its hepatoprotective properties and its clinical efficacy in viral hepatitis B. The present investigation aimed to compare the antioxidant, antibacterial and immune activation properties of ethanol and aqueous extracts of P. niruri in vitro.